


in my dreams shadows come

by dledee



Category: Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally
Genre: F/M, Implied Death, Nightmares, PTSD, Post canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-29 00:51:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11429730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dledee/pseuds/dledee
Summary: just because you find the truth, it doesn't mean the nightmares go away, that's not how it works… but she wishes it was.





	in my dreams shadows come

           A SCREAM pierces the walls around her, begs them to stop, begs everything to stop so she can breathe. Her dress feels heavy but she can’t take it off, there’s no time, all she can, all she must do is save them, help them.  ❝ ALYOSHA! ❞  Her voice feels foreign, as if coming from someone else, as if suddenly distant when it was once so close. Smoke begins to fill the air, the gunshots come closer and she’s desperate to reach out to someone, anyone!  ❝ Masha? ❞  It’s almost fearful and there’s a pang to her back that makes her fall to the floor, the bullet, the jewels hitting against her, almost unbearable pain coursing through her. Her throat burns and she coughs, holding out a hand to figures she can’t ~~see~~. Why? Why aren’t they there? They’re supposed to be there, she heard the screams!  ❝ Olya… Tatya… ❞  it feels like her throat is closing up and her eyes can’t stay open. No, she has to save them, has to get to them, someone has to…  ❝ Mama? Papa? ❞

             But then her world goes dark and she’s waking up with a jump in a soft bed, fast breathing that soon becomes tears. And a reassuring hand reaches out to her, quiets the breathing but not the tears as Anya lets her head fall to his chest.

          ❝ Are you okay? ❞  Dmitry asks putting his arms around her and kissing the top of her head. It’s not enough, but it’s something,  it reminds her that she’s safe, as safe as one can be.  ❝ No. ❞  Anya shakes her head, tears still falling, and Dmitry seems to understand it, at least as much as he can. He stays quiet for a minute, holding her, listening to her calm down, begin to breathe normally.

          ❝ Was it them again? ❞  That’s all he needs to say and they both know all too well who he’s referring to. It’s always them, it’s always the family that died and she misses desperately even through the memories that come as slow as the dripping sand of an hourglass. Anya can only nod, wipe away some of the tears that seem to have no end with the back of her hand and press herself closer to him, as close as possible. The human presence is new but warm and reassuring.

             He kisses her again and her voice whispers as softly as she dares.  ❝ What if I forget again? ❞  What if she lets all those hard won memories slip away from her fingers, what if they disappear again? The notion keeps slipping into her thoughts, keeps haunting her in the daylight hours the nightmares cannot touch. But just as softly as she asked, Dmitry answers.  ❝ If you do, I’ll remind you. ❞  And he stiffens a bit, puts his hand below her chin and raises her face, so she can see him in the moonlight that enters the room, his voice suddenly serious.  ❝ You tell me all their stories and if something happens, I’ll tell them right back to you. I won’t let you forget, Anya. ❞  And he kisses her through the tears, through the fears. It’s easy for him to dispel the latter, so easy she almost forgets why they were there in the first place.

             They don’t fall asleep right away, instead stay holding each other, laying in the bed of their new Parisian apartment, of their new life. But there’s no more nightmares, not that night. 


End file.
